


Choice vs Fate

by Kiiyarayne



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, But mostly fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-07 01:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14660679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiyarayne/pseuds/Kiiyarayne
Summary: Ling Yao has always been able to see the colored strings that bind people together in their relationships. To him, people-watching is as much about analyzing the colors of the strings that he sees as it is the people's reactions to each other. But he always wondered who was on the other end of the red string that led across the desert between Xing and Amestris. Unable to stand it any longer, he leaves to go find that person... and, very possibly, to abandon his duties to the Yao clan and his right to the throne.





	Choice vs Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Kii back at it again with their soulmate bullshit! This one should be much less heartwrenching and far more peaceful than Phantom Injuries, though.

Ever since he could remember, Ling had always been able to see the strings. Different colors, tying people together in a rainbow web of interpersonal relationships. Most of the time, though, the people had to be close together for him to see exactly how they interacted. Black strings for enemies, white for friends, blue for siblings or sibling-like affection, green for those who were jealous of the other, yellow for normal, healthy parental bonds.

Ling of the Yao clan had never seen a yellow string emanating from his father. Not even once. The closest Ling had to a father was Fu, and the closest he had to a sibling relationship was with Lan Fan. But there was one other string that Ling didn't understand for the longest time—the red string. He had one, wrapped tight around his little finger, but the end was so long that he would have to travel west for an incredible distance to find the other person it connected to. It wasn't until he was thirteen, hearing stories about the Red Thread that connected two fated lovers with each other no matter the distance, that he understood what was going on.

The only people that believed him—that  _ would _ believe him, of course—were Fu and Lan Fan, his real family. They attributed it to his being a prince, and a true future emperor. An emperor needed to be able to fully read the people around him, and the relationships they held. Ling being able to see that as though it were a  _ physical _ thing only made that easier. Even better, then, that he knew now what all the colors stood for.

But that left the matter of where  _ his _ fated lover was. Ling had been all over the western half of Xing by this point, looking for the point where the other end of the red string on his little finger led. Finally, one day, he couldn't stand it any longer. He  _ had _ to know where that thread of fate went. "I'm going west. Across the desert."

"Young Lord, what for? There's nothing out there for you." Lan Fan seemed confused, before Ling held up the red string on the little finger of his right hand. He knew they couldn't see it, but the gesture had become a shorthand for him referring to the strings without anyone else overhearing.

Fu, for his part, just nodded. "I understand. For you to know that there is someone out there, connected to you by fate that lives so far away… It eats away at your soul, doesn't it, my Lord?"

Ling nodded, eyes following the red string across the desert. "Send a message to my father that I'm going to find immortality." It should have been obvious to Fu and Lan Fan both that he wasn't serious about it, although if he found it he would definitely bring it back. No, what his soul yearned for the most right now was to find his fated lover.

"When will you return?" Lan Fan questioned, and it almost broke Ling's heart to have to tell her the truth.

"… I might not be going back. I'm not sure yet." He'd always been expected to at least try and take his father's place on the throne, but sometimes he didn't feel like he was up to it. It would all depend on what he found, really.

"My Lord! What about the responsibilities of the Yao clan?"

"Those would fall to someone else as if I had died. But… I might be coming back. Like I said, I'm not sure yet. I want to at least see what I can find, first." Ling smiled, trying to reassure Lan Fan that he knew what he was doing, even if he wasn't entirely sure of that himself.

Ling could see the tears in Lan Fan's eyes, and she assumed a deferential position. "My Lord, if I may accompany you…" The gesture and words kept Ling in shock for a few moments before he laughed and knelt down next to her. "You and Fu will both be coming with me. My father may be the emperor, but you two are my  _ family _ , and I would never do something like this without you. I'm disappointed you haven't realized that by now."

The hug he really should have seen coming, but Lan Fan knocked Ling over on his back all the same. "I'm sorry, I had thought—" Oh, there were tears against his skin. Ling wrapped his arms around Lan Fan, soothing her before she started sobbing. She had really thought he was going to leave without her, hadn't she?

"Your official position may be as my servant, but I could never leave you or Fu behind. You're more family to me than the entirety of the Yao clan. Come on. Help me set up provisions for traveling, Fu should be able to find us after making sure a message gets to my father. Right, Fu?"

"Of course, my Lord. Lan Fan…" Fu set a hand on his granddaughter's shoulder, smiling a little. "Our Lord would never leave us behind. Have faith in him. I know it's hard to trust like that when you're young, but I believe he will bring Xing to a new era. Even if he doesn't realize it himself, yet."

Ling looked up at Fu, puzzled about what his father-figure meant by that. He still didn't even know if he would make it across the desert, let alone find his fated lover,  _ let alone _ come back and rule Xing! But then… Ling was still young, himself. There were years ahead where he might still be able to return home and rule. And even if he didn't return… maybe he could set himself up as an ambassador for his homeland.

Maybe after maybe… Possibilities resounded through his head before he nodded in assent to Fu. If him and Lan Fan believed in Ling, then he would make it happen, one way or another. But first, he would have to cross the desert to Amestris.


End file.
